The top prospects at the three positions of Seahawks need entering NFL draft
Even Super Bowl champions have needs.
Multiple ones.
Whether the Seahawks draft for them next week is another matter.
John Schneider has said the poorer drafts Seattle has had in his 16 years as the team’s general manager have come from focusing too much on positional need — at the expense of selecting the best player available when the Seahawks are choosing. That partly explains the franchise going 11 years between Super Bowl appearances.
Last year, Schneider and the Seahawks had an optimal combination: The best player on their draft board when they chose in the first round also fit one of their biggest positional needs. At 18th overall, Grey Zabel became Seattle’s highest-drafted interior offensive lineman since Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson in 2001.
Zabel became a stud starting left guard from day one of his first rookie minicamp. He was a reason the Seahawks in February won Super Bowl 60 for their first NFL championship in 12 years.
It doesn’t always happen that way. But if it does for Seattle with its four selections Thursday through next Saturday at the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh, here are the Seahawks’ top three positions of need.
And here are the five best players at each of those positions in this draft class, per Tacoma-based NFL draft guru Rob Rang of FoxSports.com.
Barring trades down to acquire more choices that Schneider will assuredly seek, the Seahawks have the 32nd-overall pick to end round one, the 64th selection at end the second round, the 96th pick at the end of round three plus a sixth-round choice at 188th overall.
Cornerback
Many see this as the strongest position in this draft.
The Seahawks lost one-time Pro Bowl cornerback Riq Woolen in free agency; he signed a one-year, $12 million contract from the Philadelphia Eagles. Safety Coby Bryant, who played cornerback for the Seahawks to begin his NFL career, signed with the Chicago Bears for three years and $40 million.
Seattle brought back Josh Jobe on a three-year deal at $8 million per year, choosing the former Eagles castoff over the more expensive Woolen. Jobe is penciled to start opposite three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who is about to get a massive extension and paydays well past 2027.
The fact that the Seahawks have hosted five cornerbacks among 20 known top-30 prospect visits hint at coach Mike Macdonald’s interest in adding depth, versatility and competition at this vital position in his defense. Those five cornerback prospects that have visited Seattle: Andre Fuller, Toledo; Daylen Everette, Georgia; Brandon Cisse, South Carolina; Colton Hood, Tennessee; and Treydan Stukes, Arizona. The Seahawks don’t always draft guys they host on top-30 visits. Some of those visits are to confirm plusses or strikes the team has on a prospect.
But last year Nick Emmanwori, wide receiver Tory Horton and offensive lineman Bryce Cabledue all visited Seattle before the draft. The Seahawks selected all three.
Rang’s top cornerbacks in this draft:
- Mansoor Delane, LSU: Likely to go in the top half of the first round, long before Seattle chooses. “Delane tops (all 2026 cornerbacks) by a wide margin for me,” Rang writes on FoxSports.com. “He is a terrific man-to-man cover corner, showing easy change of direction and smooth acceleration to shadow receivers all over the field.”
- Jermod McCoy, Tennessee: Rang predicts the former triple jumper and long jumper who also played at Oregon State (6 feet 3/4 of an inch, 188 pounds) will go in the first round — despite missing last season with a torn ACL he got in an offseason workout. He broke up 16 passes in two seasons before that. “I’m doing good now,” McCoy said at the combine seven weeks ago. “Ready to play again, to be honest with you.”
- Colton Hood, Tennessee: Some scouts call the 6-foot, 193-pound Hood a “bully” in press coverage. He tackles like a safety. Macdonald loves cornerbacks who tackle like Hood does in run support. He played at Auburn, then Colorado, then Tennessee. He is only 20 years old, entering the NFL as a redshirt sophomore. “He is an easy mover with impressive awareness of the ball and in run support,” Rang says.
- Chris Johnson, San Diego State: There have been conflicting reports that Johnson was scheduled for then never took a top-30 visit to the Seahawks. A 4.40-second 40-yard dash has the Mountain West defensive player of the year in discussion to go late in round one, where Seattle would choose. “A technician with excellent route awareness,” Rang says.
- Brandon Cisse, South Carolina: He’s 6 feet, 189 pounds. His position coach at South Carolina says Cisse (SEE-see) can recite the responsibilities of all 11 players on defense on every play. That’s what Macdonald demands of his Seahawks defenders. Cisse played two years at North Carolina State. He joined South Carolina the season after the Seahawks drafted the Gamecocks’ Emmanwori last spring. Cisse sounds like a Macdonald cornerback: “A prototypical blend of size, speed and physicality in run support,” Rang says. “His occasional mistakes on tape seemed coachable, and with Cisse not turning 21 until July, the expectation is that he’s just scratching the surface.”
Edge rusher
Cincinnati gave Boye Mafe a deal too rich ($20 million per year) for Seattle to match. Derick Hall, the Seahawks’ edge rusher opposite Mafe last season, is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
Edge rusher/defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence turns 34 the last week of April. He has indicated to Macdonald he will return for his 13th NFL season in 2026.
Draft picks are for not just this year. They are for the next four years. That’s where Seattle’s need is at this premier position in a pass-happy league. Veteran edge rushers get really expensive. And relatively inexpensive draft picks who hit are luxuries.
Rang’s top edge rushers in this draft:
- Arvell Reese, Ohio State: Rang calls the ultra-versatile, ultra-athletic pass rusher and off-ball linebacker “arguably the best prospect in this draft,” regardless of position. He likens Reese to All-Pro Micah Parsons. Whoa. Reese might be gone by the third pick in this draft, to the Arizona Cardinals.
- David Bailey, Texas Tech: He was an All-American after playing three seasons for Stanford. Rang calls him this draft’s best pure pass rusher. Bailey could go to the Jets at two, if New York doesn’t take Reese.
- Rueben Bain Jr., Miami: “Violent,” Rang says of the 270-pound wrecker off the edge. He had 33 1/2 tackles for loss in 38 college games. Bain is unlikely to be there late into round one.
- Cashius Howell, Texas A&M: He IS likely to be available when Seattle picks. He visited with the Seahawks last week. At 6-2 1/2 and 253 pounds, some scouts see him too lean to be a first-round pick. “Stubby (30 1/4-inch arms) and less explosive (32.5-inch vertical jump) than expected, Howell slips down my board a bit after a disappointing combine,” Rang says. “But he remains one of my favorite prospects in this class because of his slipperiness off the edge and ability to drop into coverage. If Howell falls to the latter portion of the first round, some playoff-contending club is going get a steal.”
- Gabe Jacas, Illinois: He led the Big Ten with 11 sacks last season. Then Jacas shined for NFL scouts at the Senior Bowl in late January. “Jacas may lack the twitch of some of this year’s top pass-rushers,” Rang says, “but I see shades of a young DeMarcus Lawrence in Jacas’ game.” Hmmmm...
Running back
Super Bowl most valuable player Kenneth Walker leaving for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency last month means the Seahawks are without a for-sure lead running back for 2026.
Zach Charbonnet shared the job with Walker last season and scored 12 rushing touchdowns. That was Seattle’s most since Marshawn Lynch in 2014. But Charbonnet tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in January, during the team’s win over San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoffs. That’s typically an eight-to-12-month recovery time, which would put Charbonnet’s return after the season opener in September.
Macdonald said he and his Seahawks like the backs who are returning, but that “the process” of finding and restocking continues. None of Seattle’s running backs on the 90-man offseason roster — Charbonnet, George Holani, Emanuel Wilson, Kenny McIntosh, Jacardia Wright and Velus Jones Jr. — is under contract beyond 2026. A draft pick would be under Seahawks contract for the next four years.
Yet this draft is considered a weak one for running backs.
Rang’s top five in the 2026 NFL draft:
- Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame: Rang has him the third-best player in the entire draft. He won’t be around when Seattle picks.
- Jadarian Price, Notre Dame: The Seahawks were at his and Love’s pro day at Notre Dame last month. He is likely to be available when Seattle picks first, even if it trades down into the second round. “Price isn’t the athletic phenom that will earn fellow Notre Dame product Jeremiyah Love a top-10 pick,” Rang writes on FoxSports.com. “But he’s actually the more fundamentally sound running back, showing a future NFL bell cow’s blend of vision, burst and contact balance. He’s also one of this year’s most dynamic returners, taking back three kickoffs for touchdowns in just 22 opportunities. A LOT of analysts nationally are projecting the Seahawks will select Price. They could do it after trading down from 32 into round two, maybe at the end of the second round.
3. Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas: The drop-off from Love and Price to Washington is viewed as steep, to perhaps the bottom of the third round into the fourth by some estimates. Yet the bullish runner shot up some boards with a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the league’s scouting combine. That was the fastest time of any back over 220 pounds. But he fumbled 10 times for the University of Buffalo, New Mexico State and Arkansas.
4. Emmett Johnson, Nebraska: A 5-10, 202-pound second-team All-American. His parents are from Liberia. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds at the combine. “Johnson may lack the top-end speed to consistently beat NFL defenders to the edge,” Rang says. “But he earns high marks in some of the traits I think are even more important for success at the next level: lateral agility to make defenders miss in tight spaces, as well as both the vision and burst to attack cutback lanes.”
5. Jonah Coleman, Washington: Schneider and his Seahawks know the UW Husky captain well. They’ve scouted him across Lake Washington at Husky Stadium multiple times. They hosted him on a recent local-prospect day. Coleman (5-8, 220) runs through contact; 71% of his rushing yards last season came after contact, the most in this draft class of running backs. His most attractive of many traits may be his pass blocking and receiving ability. That’s how rookie running backs impress NFL coaches. “A pinball runner whose low center of gravity and leg drive help him break tackles, Coleman is an effective inside runner who might lack top speed but projects well to the NFL because of his commitment to pass protection and soft hands as a receiver,” Rang says.
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The top prospects at the three positions of Seahawks need entering NFL draft."
